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Thursday, 27 June 2013

Here's a confession. Football is my second-love after pets. I hope my girlfriend doesn't read this post. I watch at least one match every week or else I'll go crazy. Having been actively involved in football myself, it is undoubtedly a "man's-game" due to the physicality of the sport. You can expect tugging, pushing, shoving, tumbling, flying and some bone-crunching tackles. As violent as it may sound, the governing bodies of football have always been making rules that will keep brutality and unsporting behaviour out of the field. In the event when a player resorts to these conducts, they're always penalised through suspensions, fines and made to do community service.

Besides all the famous incidents I noted above, there are many other footballers who had previously committed various other offences. Like :-

failing doping tests, kicking players, spitting at fans, racially abusing an opponent, attacking the referee and a lot more. What happens is, after a certain period of suspension, these players are all forgiven and they come back into the team to play again.

But it all changed on the 9th of June. Argentinian Jose Jiminez WILL NEVER play for his club again. His offence was something else than all the aforementioned conducts.

Let's recall the incident,

Jose Jiminez, a player for Bella Vista football team in the Argentinian lower league, outraged fans, teammates and people around the world after committing animal cruelty. What's worse is the player demonstrated his senseless behaviour in front of mass audience. Jiminez picked up a dog who wandered on the field by choking her neck and violently hurled her into a metal fence. The dog's crime? Well, she just walked onto the pitch, sniffed the grass and laid down submissively in confusion.

As the dog slammed into the fence and bounced back, the shocked crowd and players were infuriated. The fans immediately pelted water bottles, beer cans and whatever they had towards the player. Players of the opposition team charged towards Jiminez and began to fight him. In a rare use of the red card, the angered referee stepped in and sent off the player.

Here take a look at it:

The agony for Jiminez didn't end there. He received further disciplinary action after the club announced he was fired few days later.

The club later released a statement:

"During the course of the match between Club Aletico San Juan and our club on June 9, it has become public knowledge that a player violently threw a dog which had entered the field of play while the game was unfolding. This was spread by the written and televised press in the province. Our club, to safeguard its human and sporting image, which was deeply damaged by this incomprehensible attitude, has decided to sack Jose Antonio Jimenez."

In all seriousness, I think there's nothing wrong in removing a lost animal from the pitch. The match has to go on. But Jiminez should've left it for the security personnel to handle. Or if he really wanted to become some hero, then he should've removed the dog properly. Not choke the dog like a barbarian or sakai and throw her like a trash.

A search then began for the victimised dog called Negrita (Blacky). She was later found with bruises, a cut on her right paw and below the neck due to being slammed on the wires by Jiminez.

The members of the club at the stadium requested to see Negrita and her owner. Negrita was put on a special diet and observed carefully until she recovered.

Club Atletico San Juan (the rival football team at the match) also announced that they have made Negrita their club mascot and she is now a life-time member of their club.

For me, everything that unfolded from the incident was rather new. The way the player's club, the rival club and the fans reacted to it was unexpected. And the call made by Bella Vista to sack Jiminez was a highly respectable decision. I don't care about the status of the league they're playing in or if the team is lousy. How they handled this issue was exceptional. Who would've thought that a sport like football, which has seen a big share of physical violence in its history could showcase so much respect for animals. Looks like some unrelated football club can provide more protection for the furkids than certain city councils and supposedly God-like authorities.

Sounds like a plan!

Thursday, 13 June 2013

The general election just passed us like a flash after so much of uproar and hoo haa...
If you missed my entry prior to the election, click here: Our Leaders Are Our Masters

Well now, the ministers have been sworn-in and the cabinet is ready to perform its duties.

Even after the elections, lots of politicking had been brewing up. Sometimes, I feel it's good because it keeps everyone on their toes. Simply put, check and balance. Pressure eradicates complacency. Nevertheless be wise and don't just believe everything on the internet. At the moment I believe, whichever party you support we all want a better Malaysia for us and more importantly for the animals. I expect further amendments to the law in protecting our furry siblings, or at least better enforcement of the existing ones. As rakyats, we certainly have high hopes for the next crucial five years. FIVE YEARS indeed. That's a looooooong time and a lot can happen during that period.. So here are the 15 Rules that our lovely four-legged babies put in a visual message for those in power!

Note: If you have a slow internet connection, please wait for the motion images (GIF) to load. If some are not moving, click on the image or refresh your page. Takes some time to load. Thank you for your patience. :)

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Miraculous stories of survival emerged after one of the strongest tornadoes in history tore through an Oklahoma suburb about two weeks ago. One of the stories was about a dog and the video of the incident has been going viral ever since.

An elderly woman whose home was destroyed by the Oklahoma tornado found her pet dog (which she initially thought was dead) among the rubble during a live TV interview.

Barbara Garcia was standing among the twisted wreckage of her home as she was interviewed about her experiences by a reporter from CBS.

"I was sitting on the stool holding my dog," she said.

"This was the game plan all through the years, to go in that little bathroom (together). I rolled around a little bit and when it stopped I was right there (and) that stove cooker is what I saw.

But her dog, she said, had not been as lucky. Garcia explained that she had been holding onto her pet when she went into the other room, but couldn’t locate him after the tornado had passed.

"I never lost consciousness and I hollered for my little dog and he didn't answer, he didn't come, so I know he's in here somewhere."

When the victim was asked what she thought of the devastation, Garcia replied, “This is life in the big city.” But just moments afterward, a woman’s voice off-camera proclaimed, “The dog, the dog! Hi, puppy!”

As Garcia turned around, the camera panned over to a large piece of metal debris underneath which the grey schnauzer could be seen trying to wriggle free. Garcia is seen crouching down before exclaiming with joy as she spots her pet.

And it was really touching and beautiful when Garcia said..."I thought God just answered one prayer — to let me be OK — but he answered both of them, because this was my second prayer.”

The dog, named Bowser, appeared to have survived the tornado unscathed, and was later seen happily walking away from the wreck alongside Garcia. It was like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Here's the video:

Sometimes they say a dog makes all the difference. And yes it was true in this case. As the video went viral, donations came pouring in for Garcia whose house was uninsured.

Barbara Garcia tears up as she tells CBS News 'I didn't know I was that important' after seeing donations pour in for her and her little dog Bowser who was filmed miraculously emerging from the rubble.

'One by one, they can be replaced. A lot of it wasn't even important, but I couldn't replace him,' Garcia says while holding her dog securely in her injured arms.

The spotlight on the footage where Bowser looked as if he cheated death proved to be a turning point.

This one person called Erin DeRuggiero later set up an account, to help Garcia rebuild her home. It took only 24 hours for it to pull in $1,500. As of now an incredible $56,300 has been raised from 1,365 people. And that is just from this one particular account. There are others too.

The fund raiser said 'I was shattered upon seeing her home destroyed, her recounting her experience and her joy upon seeing that her dog had survived it all. My goal is to ease her recovery, raise enough money to help her start to rebuild or relocate her life, and above all else, to show her that "life in the big city" also means helping one another, even from 1500 miles away.'

Garcia's little miracle, coupled with the generosity of support from total strangers, is one of the few pieces of good news to come out of Moore, Oklahoma after the two-mile wide tornado ripped through the small town on and took the lives of many.

Thanks to Bowser. If not for him, Garcia would have been left alone to rue her miserable fate. I must say, sometimes we make a difference in our pet's life. Sometimes it's the other way round.